The present invention relates to a gas discharge indicator device of the type in which a glow discharge takes place in a discharge chamber between an anode and a cathode so as to produce ultraviolet radiation, and the discharge chamber is provided with at least one luminescent coating which emits visible light in response to the ultraviolet radiation. In such an indicator device this visible light can be observed through a light transmitting pane which closes the discharge chamber at least on one side.
Known gas discharge indicator devices of the above-mentioned type all suffer from the drawback that they produce low light yields which severely limit their usability, particularly when the individual discharge cells are very small as would be the case, for example, if they were to be employed as picture elements in flat video screens. It is also often annoying that, in addition to the visible light emitted by the luminescent coating, the visible component of the glow discharge radiation also reaches the observer and, unless the luminescent material emits the same color as the glow discharge, produces a change in the color of the light emitted by the luminescent material.